It sounds improbable: a country with open job positions everywhere – yet no one willing to fill them.

But a recent survey found that the improbable is reality, at least in Texas: 91% of surveyed restaurant operators from the state say they are struggling to fill available job positions.

Many operators have signalled a desire for the U.S. government to cut or halt its unemployment aid for people who are out of work. However, they face a wave of critics who have challenged those operators with another solution: pay their workers more.

Kelsey Streufert, an associate with the Texas Restaurant Association, admits that working conditions are improving as a way to incentivize customers:

“Every day we talk to restauranteurs who cannot find enough employees just to run their regular shifts. They’re getting really creative. And the good news is, we’re seeing higher wages and better benefits than we’ve ever seen in recent memory in the industry, which is great. But even that’s not enough to really address the challenge,” said Streufert.

“For people who are ready and who can be back in the workforce, we need to start encouraging them to do so, but we also need to take efforts to really support those workers, and support working families.”

Joe Groves, co-owner of Ellen’s Restaurant, has defied the odds by not only remaining fully staffed but by expanding their restaurant presence. They now have over 500 employees – and many of them are paid much higher wages than the industry standard. Some workers make a guaranteed $20/hour with benefits.

“To think really strong and hard about the need to make sure that our waiters, our bussers, our cooks, our barbacks, our bartenders, our hosts, everybody that works in the restaurant, deserves to make a decent living. We want them to come out and work for us, and I think that it’s only fair that we try to ensure as best we can that they can meet their own personal needs,” said Groves.

The lack of ready employers, especially for the country’s restaurant industry, is a complex story. Is the United States grappling with a labor shortage? Or is it struggling with an incentive shortage for underpaid workers?

Read the full story here.